SDSU grad celebrates Oscar nominations

Kathleen Kennedy says 'This never gets old'

In this image released by Paramount Pictures, Brad Pitt is shown in a scene from "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." Pitt received a Leading Actor BAFTA nomination, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009, for his role in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which received eleven nominations in total. (AP Photo/Paramount Pictures, Merrick Morton)
— AP

In this image released by Paramount Pictures, Brad Pitt is shown in a scene from "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." Pitt received a Leading Actor BAFTA nomination, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009, for his role in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which received eleven nominations in total. (AP Photo/Paramount Pictures, Merrick Morton)
/ AP

For San Diego State University grad Kathleen Kennedy, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” a movie she co-produced, was a case Thursday for celebration.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized her movie with 13 Oscar nominations, second most in history behind “Titanic” and “All About Eve.”

The film, based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story about a baby boy born with the body of an 80-year-old who ages backward, earned nods for best picture, best actor (Brad Pitt), best supporting actress (Taraji P. Henson) and best director (David Fincher).

Producers accept the award for best picture. For Kennedy, it's her sixth producing nomination (“E.T.” and “Munich,” among her credits). She's never won.

“This never gets old,” Kennedy said Thursday from her office in Santa Monica. She graduated from SDSU in 1975 with a degree in telecommunications.

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” has been kicking around Hollywood for years with directors unsure how to make the reverse aging processwork.

“This is a film that requires every tool known to the industry,” said Kennedy of the $150 million production. Among those she credits are the nominated screenwriter Eric Roth and Fincher. “No one,” she said of her director, “is better equipped with technical expertise” to handle the complex technology and state-of-the-art makeup.

The two-hour, 40-minute film is special, she said, “because every person brings something from their own lives. You walk away with something to think about, new ways to look at things. Movies don't do that very often.”

The Oscar ceremonies, hosted by Hugh Jackman, will be held Feb. 22 at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre and televised by ABC. And, like last year, there will be the shadow of labor discord. The Screen Actors Guild is in tense negotiations with producers and could call a strike to disrupt the proceedings.

Meanwhile, the acting categories were dominated by “Doubt,” the story of a strict Catholic school nun and the priest she suspects of abusing a boy. Its nominations included Meryl Streep (best actress, her 15th, the most in Oscar history), Philip Seymour Hoffman (best supporting actor) and Amy Adams and Viola Davis (both for best supporting actress). Though it was passed over for best picture, John Patrick Shanley earned a nomination for adapting his stage play to the screen.